Six Gallery Reading

It’s odd. I woke up today and thought about the Six Gallery Reading. I’m not sure why I thought about it. I guess I’ve never really considered the date; only the reading and its consequences. I picked up a book about Kerouac (Jack’s Book, Gifford and Lee) to continue my reading into Kerouac’s love life, and stumbled upon a few stories about Kerouac before and during the reading. “Weird,” I thought. “I keep coming back to the Six Gallery Reading.”

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Tribute

On October 2nd, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his Beat bookstore and publisher, City Lights, will receive Litquake’s 2010 Barbary Award at Herbst Theater.

The celebration will be attended by Tom Waits,  Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Winona Ryder, Michael McClure and Eric Drooker.

One Fast Move Or I’m Gone

The Henry Miller Library is holding “The Event of The Season” this August 14th, with a screening of the movie One Fast Move or I’m Gone and a concert by Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard.

The movie features Tom Waits, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Patti Smith, and was largely filmed in and around Big Sur. The event will be catered by Grapes of Wrath Catering – which is owned by a former neighbour of Kerouac during his time at Big Sur.

Beatdom #6

Beatdom #6 is finally here! Go to our website to find out more! Or buy direct from the publisher.

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This issue has a “travel” theme. We have a long essay examining the journeys taken by each member of the Beat generation, as well as special features on Tangier (a Beat travel hotspot!) and the roaming of Hunter S. Thompson.

We have some amazing short stories by Edaurdo Jones, Brin Friesen and Omar Zingaro Bhatia, as well as a special, world-premier of “SISTERS” – a never before seen short story by Alene Lee (Mardou Fox from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road).

Finally, as a lead-in to next month’s “music” special, we have an interview with the legendary British hip-hop star, Scroobius Pip.

The Beat Generation and Travel

Beatdom #6 is coming along nicely, and we’re all set for an April 2nd release. In this issue you’ll see a whole lot about travelling. We also have unpublished work by Alene Lee, and some poetry and fiction by old Beatdom favourites.

Just to whet you appetite, here’s a sample from Issue Six: an essay exploring where the Beats travelled and what they thought about travel, by Beatdom editor David S. Wills. This essay looks at the journeys taken by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Harold Norse and Bob Kaufman.

We often look to Jack Kerouac as the great backpacker, whose On the Road is credited with sending thousands of readers literally on the road… but he certainly wasn’t the perpetual traveller many think, and the other members of the Beat Generation – whom are less well known for their journeys – travelled far more.

Happy Birthday Lawrence Ferlinghetti!

Excuse this belated post…

Lawrence Ferlinghetti turned 91 on March 24th.

Ferlinghetti is the author of A Coney Island of the Mind and, of course, the owner of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. He was the publisher of Ginsberg’s “Howl” among other Beat texts.